Monday, September 12, 2005
7:48 PM
"Help a man when he's in trouble, and he'll remember you when he gets into trouble again." - anonymous
I was listening to this sermon in New Creation yesterday, when my thoughts inevitably brought me to the quote above, which I found in the intranet mailbox when my upperstudy passed his mail account over to me.
The pastor was talking about David's three mighty men, and how they were considered mighty because they were very focused on the tasks they were given. How focused were they? One guy 'fought till his hand froze to the sword' alone with David in a battle when everyone else fled. The other guy defeated a Philistine army because they were trespassing the lentil patch (dinner) he was guarding. The last one downed 800 men with a spear because they tried to get past the door he was guarding.
Well, for a modern day analogy, it would be like successfully defending your camp against an entire platoon of invading commandos alone, whilst on guard duty at 3am in the morning. Then, on top of being called 'super garang', you would also be called 'mighty'.
And then, the pastor said something along the lines of 'So David thought, if I asked him to do something simple, like guarding the door, and he achieved so much, I wonder how much more he could achieve if I asked he to do something more difficult...'
And the first thing I instinctively said to my friend beside me was "Wah lau, kenah arrow."
Life's like that. You prove yourself to be capable, and people would tend to want to 'utilise' you more, where the optimist would say 'so that you can achieve your full potential' whilst the cynic would say 'so that he can abuse you for his own purposes to the max'.
The quote's a highly cynical viewpoint on this issue, but in the SAF environment, a very relevant one. However, being an eternal optimist wannabe, I try my best not to take this quote too seriously, and do my best in diligently accepting all arro... I mean, tasks given to me.
Until my CSM praised me for being hardworking today, and helpfully suggested with a straight face that to reward me, my ORD date should be extended.
I think it is time I meditate on the true meaning of PRAISE, and try not to recieve it as much as possible. People Rest And I Serve Extra, People Rest And I Serve Extra, People Rest And I Serve Extra, People Rest And I Serve Extra...
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